In the process of painting, the painter places the container of paint on a surface and dips the brush or paint roller into the container. The container may be a paint can whenever a brush is used, and a pan whenever a roller is used by the painter.
Since the container is bulky and prone to spilling, thereby causing damage and requiring much time wasted in clean up, the paint container is moved infrequently. This necessitates constant travel by the painter from the work area to the paint container, which is tiring and inefficient. Also, the paint container is usually placed on the floor increasing the possibility of spillage and other accidents. This location is inconvenient for the painter who must bend over to apply paint to the roller.
When brushing, the painter holds a paint can in one hand and paints with the brush in the other hand. This has the obvious disadvantages of restricting the painter's movement besides being tiring and inefficient, since a relatively small amount of paint may be held in the paint can.
Furthermore, the painter's accessory tools and equipment (sandpaper, wipes, tape, spackle, etc.) and personal items (beverage, cigarettes, ash tray, etc.) are not located near the work area; and thus the painter must leave the work area to get these items. Again, this is time consuming and inefficient.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that painting is often an unpleasant task for a "do-it yourself" homeowner (and even for a professional painter) because the overall arrangement is inefficient; and thus a need exists for a mobile work station to improve efficiency and make painting more convenient and less tiring and time consuming.
The only prior art of which the applicant is aware--which is directed to a movable paint stand--is Wahl U.S. Letters Pat. No. 2,580,623 issued on Jan. 1, 1952 in which there is disclosed a stand to support a paint pail, the stand being mounted on a carriage having rollers. The paint stand may not be folded for ease of transport or storage, it does not accommodate a paint pan for use with a paint roller and it has no provisions to accommodate tools, accessories or personal items.
Additionally, Renschin U.S. Letters Pat. No. 2,290,450 issued on Jul. 21,1942 discloses a telescoping tube to support a horizontal rod. The rod takes the place of a man in holding paper to be applied to a ceiling so that a single person can perform the papering. The horizontal rod can be replaced by a pan to hold a bucket of paint to facilitate dipping a brush in the paint when painting a ceiling. The device is not mobile and may not be folded for use of transport or storage.
The applicant is also aware of the following prior patents:
______________________________________ Inventor(s) U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Clark 1,901,732 Conger 2,284,801 Hotton 2,981,549 Shackel 3,170,709 DeVitt et al 3,181,483 Burns 3,220,773 Swick, Jr. 3,759,599 Hines 4,119,044 Schreiner 4,363,496 Remington et al 4,535,897 Teachout 4,537,421 Cunningham 4,679,805 Betts et al 4,690,417 Liegel 4,715,573 Coote 4,728,065 Kirkendall 4,796,909 Grow D 183,425 Corini D 230,257 Salsgiver D 232,166 Daventry D 271,733 Luyk et al D 289,459 Bettress D 296,143. ______________________________________
As would be expected, these patents disclose a wide variety of movable carts and tool stands for various purposes. However, there is no disclosure nor teaching that these carts may be used for, nor readily adapted to, the unique requirements of a painter. A painter should have ready and convenient access to the paint, to the brushes, roller and other painting accessories, and to the personal items of the painter.
To the best of our knowledge and belief, there is no commercial product on the market, which provides a mobile, versatile, articulatable, portable work station for a painter.
Accordingly, it will be readily appreciated that there exists a longstanding and critical need for a mobile work station for use specifically by painters, wherein the mobile work station has the following features and advantages: it may be moved easily and conveniently to the immediate work area; it holds the paint container (such as a pan) so that the paint is less liable to be spilled; it holds the paint pan at a convenient height, so that the painter does less bending; it holds the necessary tools, accessories and personal items; and it may be folded for ease of storage and transport.